The short answer: a PR agency earns you attention on other people's platforms through press coverage, interviews and features. A video marketing agency builds media you own: a library of video that educates your buyers and brings them to you every week. An in-house team gives you control, but it takes several hires plus a studio. If your buyers research online before they call, owned video usually delivers the most lasting return, and it makes your PR work harder too.
Every growing company eventually has the same conversation. Buyers make decisions on video now. A competitor is showing up everywhere. We need a plan, and we need someone to own it. For years the default answer was to hire a PR agency. Today there is another option: hire a team that makes you the media.
What a PR Agency Does
A PR agency builds credibility through earned media. It pitches journalists, lands interviews, places stories and protects your reputation. Coverage on a respected outlet borrows that outlet's trust, which is why people proudly share that they were featured on a national news show.
Strengths: third-party credibility, reach into new audiences and help in a crisis.
Limits: you don't control the timing, the angle or the final edit. Coverage is often a moment rather than a steady presence, and the audience belongs to the outlet, not to you.
What a Video Marketing Agency Does
A video marketing agency builds credibility through owned media. It extracts your expertise, records it in a studio, edits it for every platform, publishes it where your buyers spend their time and measures the conversations it starts. Instead of waiting to be invited onto someone else's stage, you build your own.
Strengths: you control the message and the schedule, the content keeps working for years, the same library serves marketing, sales and onboarding, and results are measured in conversations and clients.
Limits: it rewards consistency. A library builds trust over months, not days.
What an In-House Video Team Does
Building internally means hiring a strategist, producer, videographer, editor and social media manager, buying cameras, lighting and audio gear, and finding a space to film.
Strengths: full control and deep knowledge of your business.
Limits: cost and fragility. When one person leaves, production often stops, and a small team rarely covers strategy, production, editing and distribution at a high level all at once.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Who owns the audience: PR agency, the outlet. Video marketing agency, you. In-house team, you.
Control over message and timing: PR agency, limited. Video marketing agency, high. In-house team, high.
How long the work keeps working: PR agency, often a news cycle. Video marketing agency, years, as a searchable library. In-house team, years.
Studio and equipment: PR agency, not included. Video marketing agency, included when the agency is studio based. In-house team, you buy and maintain it.
Direct support for sales: PR agency, indirect. Video marketing agency, objection and process videos your team can send. In-house team, if someone prioritizes it.
How success is measured: PR agency, placements and impressions. Video marketing agency, conversations and clients. In-house team, whatever you define.
How you pay: PR agency, a monthly retainer. Video marketing agency, a monthly partnership. In-house team, salaries, benefits, gear and space.
Why Owned Media Wins Trust
Buyers trust expertise they can evaluate for themselves. In the 2024 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report, 73% of B2B buyers said an organization's thought leadership is a more trustworthy basis for judging its capabilities than its marketing materials. Seventy-five percent said a piece of thought leadership had led them to research a product or service they weren't previously considering, and 60% said they are willing to pay a premium to work with an organization that provides valuable thought leadership.
Video is the most natural way to deliver that at scale. Buyers can see how you think, hear how you explain and decide whether they trust you, all before the first call.
Why Your Competitors Keep Winning the Deal
Most buyers are not shopping on the day they see your content. The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute's 95-5 rule, published with the LinkedIn B2B Institute, estimates that up to 95% of business buyers are out of the market at any given time. Companies change providers like their bank or law firm about once every five years.
When the need finally arrives, buyers reach for the names they already remember. If a competitor has been publishing useful video every week and you have been quiet, the deal is often decided before you hear about it. A news feature helps for a moment. A steady library keeps you remembered between moments.
Can PR and Video Marketing Work Together?
Yes, and each makes the other stronger. A strong video library gives journalists, podcast hosts and event organizers proof that you are worth featuring. When you land coverage, clips extend its life across your own channels. And a professional studio gives every interview, remote broadcast and media appearance the look of a national show.
How to Choose
Hire a PR agency when you need a media moment, a major announcement or reputation management.
Build an in-house team when you need very high volume with daily turnaround and can support several specialized hires plus a studio.
Hire a video marketing agency when your buyers research online before they call, your experts' time is limited, and you want strategy and execution in one place, measured by clients instead of impressions.
What to Expect From a Video Marketing Agency
Like a PR firm, a video marketing agency usually works as an ongoing monthly partnership instead of a one-off project, because trust compounds with consistency. A typical month includes a strategy session, a studio day, finished long-form episodes and clips for every platform, publishing, and a report on the conversations your content created. The first 90 days build the plan, the rhythm and the library. The months after are when inbound conversations grow. For the full process, read how to build a video marketing strategy and why most videos don't generate leads.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a PR agency and a video marketing agency?
A PR agency earns coverage on outlets you don't own, such as news sites, podcasts and publications. A video marketing agency creates and distributes content you own on your channels, and measures it by the conversations and clients it produces.
Is a video marketing agency cheaper than an in-house team?
For most companies, yes. An agency typically costs less than hiring each specialist role directly, and it includes the studio and equipment an internal team would need to buy, rent or build. The exact comparison depends on how much content you need each month.
Do I still need PR if I have a video marketing agency?
It depends on your goals. If you need media coverage or reputation management, PR still plays a role. Many companies find that a strong video library makes PR easier, because it gives the media proof of your expertise.
How long should I work with a video marketing agency?
Plan on at least two quarters. The first 90 days build the strategy, the recording rhythm and the first library of content. The following months are when trust compounds and inbound conversations grow.
What should I look for in a video marketing agency?
Look for a team that starts with strategy and your ideal client, has its own production studio, includes editing and distribution, and measures success by conversations and clients. Ask whether they have built inbound client acquisition with video themselves.
Become the Media Your Buyers Trust
EventLab Studios® is a private, full production studio in Scottsdale, by appointment only, with the strategy and editing team to run your video marketing from plan to publish. You show up with your expertise. We handle everything else. Request a proposal and we will show you what a month of done-for-you video marketing looks like for your business. Start with the framework in Video Marketing Agency: How to Use Video to Get Clients Calling You.
Patrick Antrim is the founder of EventLab Studios®. He builds inbound client acquisition strategies that help experts and brands get clients calling them.
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